<p> The purpose of writing <i>The Impact of inner healing prayer on Christian Maturity at Stanwich Congregational Church, Greenwich, Connecticut </i> is to determine the impact of Inner Healing prayer on a Christian&rsquo;s maturity and well-being in the five human dimensions: physical, emotional, spiritual, social, and intellectual. </p><p> Chapter 1 provides the purpose, goals, context, and rationale of this project. This chapter includes: the researcher&rsquo;s personal story, purpose of the study, ministry problem addressed, context in which research was conducted, research questions and model of research, definition of terms&mdash;inner healing, holistic holiness, spiritual formation/soul care, the soul, Christian maturity&mdash;and possible limitations and delimitations of the current project. </p><p> Chapter 2 provides literature review and theological foundations for present research of the impact that inner healing prayer can have on Christian maturity. </p><p> Chapter 3 sets forth the research methodology utilized in approaching inner healing prayer including: recruitment, selection and characteristics of participants, instrument used, standardization of treatment and data collection. </p><p> Chapter 4 presents an analysis of the findings including: quantitative and qualitative data of the five research questions, maturity levels before and after inner healing prayer, anecdotal participants&rsquo; responses of the greatest impact of inner healing prayer and greatest need for further growth. </p><p> Chapter 5 summarizes the purpose of current research and how the results fulfill that purpose. The research questions are restated. The researcher&rsquo;s conclusions include: surprises and what the researcher discovered that was not necessarily anticipated, findings in relation to literature review, reflections on the research design, recommendations for future research and concluding remarks.</p>

The purpose of this project is to promote transformative change within a local church by establishing an ethos of mutuality built upon mutually shared religious beliefs rather than shared culture or age. The pastor of a predominantly African-American church of approximately two hundred members located in the City of Pensacola in the panhandle of Florida observed that there was no perceived cooperative and collaborative exchange between those who shared a culture (individuals bound together with certain beliefs, interests, and culture) or those who were from the same generation within the church. The church being studied is an urban inner-city ministry comprised of 71 % adults and 29% youths. Culturally, the differences among members are more geographical in their origin than racial. Pensacola, a city with a fluid population, attracts people from different communities within the nation. Utilizing the concepts of task competence, transactional commitment, and transformative consciousness (consistent mental awareness of transformative praxis) for the pastor and the membership, this project addresses transformative change (ministry involvement, organizational commitment, and membership retention) as well as attitudes, behaviors, and actions within the local church. The project includes the development of a four-lesson series that addresses the idea of mutuality (embracing shared core beliefs and ideas). The project enrolled twenty-one people representing each ministry subgroup within the church. The group completed a pre-test and post-test (questionnaire) and participated in all group session activities designed to develop mutuality in the areas of core shared beliefs such as spiritual growth, and the church's direction of ministry, vision, and mission. The effectiveness of the lesson plan series was evaluated based on increased unity, behavioral attitudes towards each other, and praxis in the ministry. The community known as the Greater True Vine Missionary Baptist Church of Pensacola, Florida is the project's primary focus. The hoped for outcome of the project was to create greater unity and organizational commitment among the church's members as a result of their renewed focus on their shared core religious beliefs.

It has been indicated through research and by personal testimony that although some barriers for inclusion for those with special needs have been broken down since the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, one of the most significant barriers still remains - negative and often subtle attitudes. Positive attitudes toward individuals with special needs have been shown to facilitate inclusion while negative attitudes hinder inclusion. Since the ADA law exempted churches from the mandates for inclusion, many have found participating in churches a significant challenge. The purpose of this study was to explore the attitude measurement score of senior pastors as it relates to awareness of special needs populations, types of special education ministries in the churches, previous life experiences with persons with developmental disabilities, and the pastor's training through formal and informal courses of instruction related to developmental disabilities. The research explored potential factors which shape pastoral attitudes and result in either barriers or facilitators to intentional special needs ministries. Data was collected through an online survey format and the results were used in a statistical analysis to facilitate the answering of the research questions. The sample population for the research included the 1296 senior pastors of Southern Baptist churches in South Carolina who have published church and/or personal email addresses in the South Carolina Baptist Annual Report 2008. Through statistical analysis of the survey results, precedent literature review concepts concerning the value oflife experiences with individuals with developmental disabilities can have a positive impact on positive attitudes. The pastors overall had positive attitudes toward individuals with developmental disabilities, but most significantly in the realm of the behavioral domain. Strong statistically significant correlations could not be drawn between having a positive attitude toward individuals with special needs and special needs ministry among the pastor's surveys. There were definite trends which support the important roles of experience and education being made available to pastors in order to potentially bring positive changes concerning inclusion in local churches. Keywords: attitude measurement, special needs ministry, pastoral attitudes, individuals with developmental disabilities, church special education ministry

This study was designed to investigate and analyze the relationship between pastoral theology, objectives, methods, and practical application of discipleship in local SBC churches in Indiana. Pastors participating were senior or solo pastors serving in both full-time and bi-vocational pastorates. The survey instrument was organized in two sections, the first being the demographic data. The second section consisted of 60 statements using a Likert response scale organized for research purposes into four categories (theology, objective, process or model and application). The data revealed the need for pastors to demonstrate alignment with belief and practice in their life and discipleship ministry as seen in the areas of accountability and leadership development. The data revealed significant discontinuity between theological belief and practical application. There appears to be a disconnect between pastoral perception of discipleship and the reality in the local church as demonstrated in the increasing level of ambiguity found in the survey as it progressed from theology, to objective, to process, to application of discipleship. The data revealed that pastors demonstrated solid theological principles and understood the objectives of discipleship. There was a lack of clarity on the model or process to communicate discipleship, and even less clarity in the practical application of discipleship. Pastors need skills to transition from theory to practical application. To remedy the confusion and correct the discontinuity between theology and practice of discipleship, the researcher suggests the use of this research by state conventions and local associations to help pastors bridge the gap between theology, objectives, process and practical application of discipleship. There are conferences where a pastor could have the opportunity to take the survey instrument and view his own results. This study could be used in a seminar format as classroom material, and it could be published for pastoral enrichment. The pastor must verbally, and in written form, consistently communicate that his number one passion is to make disciples and to help people develop toward maturity in Christ. The bar of expectation and accountability placed upon members and leadership may need to be raised. The data revealed the need for pastors to grasp and work out their leadership role in the discipling process. Pastors appear confused about how they are to equip their members. If the confusion continues, local churches may have little impact upon their communities because pastors and members will likely have a skewed understanding of their purpose and role in the Kingdom of God and the society in which God has placed them. / This item is only available to students and faculty of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. If you are not associated with SBTS, this dissertation may be purchased from <a href="http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb">http://disexpress.umi.com/dxweb</a> or downloaded through ProQuest's Dissertation and Theses database if your institution subscribes to that service.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / The problem of the dissertation is twofold: first, to study the relationship of theological language to the pastoral counseling function in selected Christian traditions; second, to study this relationship with regard to the variables of locale, presenting problem and the counselor's authority as a priest or minister. The emergence of pastoral counseling as an identifiable movement in the late 1940's gave rise to several significant questions concerning the relation of the theological perspective of the pastor to the essentially secular orientation of other helping professions. A basic concern is the extent to which pastoral counseling might be moving away from an overt identification with the Church and with a theological orientation. Does the use of secular language schemes mean that the counseling being done has lost its pastoral dimension identified with the Church and with theology? Rather, are there other variables which influence the particular language used by the pastor in counseling? These questions suggested the need to explore the relationship of theological language to the pastoral counseling function in selected Christian traditions and to such variables as the locale in which the counseling occurs, the presenting problem and the authority of the priest and minister. [TRUNCATED]

No description available.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston University / Three trends in theological education today contribute to the significance of this study: the careful selection of students for theological schools; an increased interest in the close supervision of the student's personal growth. These appear to be the instigating factors underlying the extensive use of psychological testing being employed by theological schools. The purpose of this dissertation is to determine how extensively psychological testing is being used and what contributions testing can make to the supervision of students in clinical pastoral training (CPT). First an historical survey was made of the CPT movement with special reference to the Council for Clinical Training (CCT) and the Institute of Pastoral Care (IPC). The relationship to theological education was examined to gain perspective and see the context from which to focus more clearly on psychological testing in the supervisory process. The goals of CPT were examined and found to center around (1) the student's self-understanding, 2) the development of interpersonal and interprofessional relations, and 3) a pastoral identity with concomitant skills [TRUNCATED]

In today’s hectic society, opportunities to receive pastoral care and to participate in relevant adult or continuing education are greatly valued by organisational employees. For the police community in the English-speaking world, police chaplains have emerged as a group of professionals in police organisations providing specialised pastoral care and associated education to their constituents. As a relatively new community of practitioners, little is known about the emergence of this group in terms of its needs for learning, education and support and processes of acquisition of knowledge and skills. Major purposes of this study were to explicate the learning engaged in by police chaplains to become a professional practitioner and to project the role for future sustainability for all stakeholders. This is the first doctoral thesis to examine the development and practice of police chaplaincy in New South Wales (Australia), New Zealand and the United Kingdom. It was argued that neither police chaplains themselves nor the police communities they serve understand the potential of the role and implications for future learning and performance of that role. Prior to this study, there were no strategies in place to assess consequences of change, to address work-related problems or to determine future training. Consequently, this study explored how police chaplains perform their role so they could better justify the value of their roles for multiple stakeholders and make suitable professional development plans and strategies to improve services, address work-related problems adequately and respond appropriately to social changes. In order to understand and articulate the experiences of police chaplains, a reflective analysis was provided of the work of practising police chaplains in New South Wales, Australia, and a comparative study of police chaplains in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The qualitative research design was interpretive and used ethnography and autoethnography as methodologies. The researcher is a police chaplain herself and is a current member of this professional group in New South Wales and was for a period of time in New Zealand. Four key objectives guided the inquiry and were addressed in determining an explanatory framework in the literature review and in the findings and discussion chapters. The first objective was to investigate the nature of the professional police chaplain. The findings suggested that police chaplains were male or female, ordained or lay, highly educated and pastoral and have a passion for policing. They are professional in nature from their qualifications as a minister, practising professionalism in their role as minister and chaplain and behaving appropriately as a professional. It was discovered in this study that because police chaplains largely act alone they have developed four distinct ‘walking styles’ of having a presence and performing their role in a police station or other venues. The second objective to explicate the nature of police chaplaincy culture focused on kinship among police chaplains and incorporated notions of community of practice, culture and identity. The findings showed that kinship was a useful explanatory concept for analysing the culture of police chaplaincy. It became evident in the study that learning, belonging, connecting, participating and knowing were essential in the police chaplain’s role in complex and diverse communities of practice and various community and organisational cultures that influenced their identities as a minister, chaplain and pastoral carer. The third objective was to identify the major challenges faced by police chaplains. The findings indicated that police chaplains consistently faced challenges in representing the spiritual to police, managing their time, finding best practices, being credible and understanding others relationally as well as attending critical incidents in their ongoing honorary position. Senior Chaplains played an important role providing the support and training that police chaplains require for their ongoing practice while mentors and/or spouses also provided necessary time to listen to the police chaplain’s challenging day. The fourth objective was to examine the professional development and training of police chaplains. The findings revealed that training offered to the honorary police chaplain was minimal and did not meet the police chaplains’ needs. Strategies including a program of continuing professional education have been suggested to enhance training and development for the future of police chaplaincy. Police chaplains interviewed for this research have given a broad range of perspectives making this exploratory study a significant contribution towards capturing the culture of police chaplaincy for the first time. This exposition of the work of police chaplains contributes to setting future directions for police chaplaincy practice and research enabling a better service for police officers and staff of police services worldwide.

Secondary schools in Australia routinely develop organisational constructs to fulfil their dual obligations of academic teaching and the pastoral care of students. Although these obligations are closely interrelated, school organisational structures are frequently dichotomous, differentiating between the academic roles of teachers and their pastoral responsibilities and can result in a functional divide between the two sides of the school. Teachers find themselves wearing ‘two hats’; a subject teacher and a pastoral carer and thus are required to work in two separate domains, the academic and the pastoral, each with distinct and different tasks, expectations and line management. The limited amounts of research available suggest that such an organisational divide can hinder the work of teachers and lead to some organisational confusion within the school. This research took the form of a qualitative case study, based in an independent secondary school in Western Australia. It investigated the impacts and implications of the notional division between the pastoral and academic dimensions of the school. The thesis begins with a review of the understanding and development of pastoral care in schools. The construct of an enabling bureaucracy is then explored and adopted as a theoretical lens with which to examine the pastoral care system from the perspective of teachers, students and senior managers. Narratives are used to present the data. The research findings indicate that alignment of the pastoral and academic structures, both functionally and culturally, can be achieved if an enabling approach is employed. Such alignment allows the pastoral care system to support the primary function of a school which is learning, whilst retaining its fundamental duty of student care. The study concludes with a consideration of how an enabling school culture may improve the provision of pastoral care in schools.

In today’s hectic society, opportunities to receive pastoral care and to participate in relevant adult or continuing education are greatly valued by organisational employees. For the police community in the English-speaking world, police chaplains have emerged as a group of professionals in police organisations providing specialised pastoral care and associated education to their constituents. As a relatively new community of practitioners, little is known about the emergence of this group in terms of its needs for learning, education and support and processes of acquisition of knowledge and skills. Major purposes of this study were to explicate the learning engaged in by police chaplains to become a professional practitioner and to project the role for future sustainability for all stakeholders. This is the first doctoral thesis to examine the development and practice of police chaplaincy in New South Wales (Australia), New Zealand and the United Kingdom. It was argued that neither police chaplains themselves nor the police communities they serve understand the potential of the role and implications for future learning and performance of that role. Prior to this study, there were no strategies in place to assess consequences of change, to address work-related problems or to determine future training. Consequently, this study explored how police chaplains perform their role so they could better justify the value of their roles for multiple stakeholders and make suitable professional development plans and strategies to improve services, address work-related problems adequately and respond appropriately to social changes. In order to understand and articulate the experiences of police chaplains, a reflective analysis was provided of the work of practising police chaplains in New South Wales, Australia, and a comparative study of police chaplains in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. The qualitative research design was interpretive and used ethnography and autoethnography as methodologies. The researcher is a police chaplain herself and is a current member of this professional group in New South Wales and was for a period of time in New Zealand. Four key objectives guided the inquiry and were addressed in determining an explanatory framework in the literature review and in the findings and discussion chapters. The first objective was to investigate the nature of the professional police chaplain. The findings suggested that police chaplains were male or female, ordained or lay, highly educated and pastoral and have a passion for policing. They are professional in nature from their qualifications as a minister, practising professionalism in their role as minister and chaplain and behaving appropriately as a professional. It was discovered in this study that because police chaplains largely act alone they have developed four distinct ‘walking styles’ of having a presence and performing their role in a police station or other venues. The second objective to explicate the nature of police chaplaincy culture focused on kinship among police chaplains and incorporated notions of community of practice, culture and identity. The findings showed that kinship was a useful explanatory concept for analysing the culture of police chaplaincy. It became evident in the study that learning, belonging, connecting, participating and knowing were essential in the police chaplain’s role in complex and diverse communities of practice and various community and organisational cultures that influenced their identities as a minister, chaplain and pastoral carer. The third objective was to identify the major challenges faced by police chaplains. The findings indicated that police chaplains consistently faced challenges in representing the spiritual to police, managing their time, finding best practices, being credible and understanding others relationally as well as attending critical incidents in their ongoing honorary position. Senior Chaplains played an important role providing the support and training that police chaplains require for their ongoing practice while mentors and/or spouses also provided necessary time to listen to the police chaplain’s challenging day. The fourth objective was to examine the professional development and training of police chaplains. The findings revealed that training offered to the honorary police chaplain was minimal and did not meet the police chaplains’ needs. Strategies including a program of continuing professional education have been suggested to enhance training and development for the future of police chaplaincy. Police chaplains interviewed for this research have given a broad range of perspectives making this exploratory study a significant contribution towards capturing the culture of police chaplaincy for the first time. This exposition of the work of police chaplains contributes to setting future directions for police chaplaincy practice and research enabling a better service for police officers and staff of police services worldwide.